As some of you may know, I have plans on lowering the truck. I have recently been thinking of going a little more extreme and have been thinking of a complete air ride system. My question is does anyone have any idea where I would find parts or resources on how to do this? I looked into kelderman but they only offer airbags for lifting and towing. Thanks in advance

 

There is no "kit" for our truck. I recommend gaugemagazine.Com. One of the salesmen there owned a 1st Gen at one time. Make sure to buy the larger bag in the front, like the firestone 2600 or the slam specialty 7" bag. If you plan own towing with the truck, make sure you do a "bag over axle" set up. Cantilevered set ups can be tricky to get right on a heavy payload vehicle if you don't have experience

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My dream is to ditch the rear leaf springs and install a full 4 link suspension and adjustable Pan-hard Bar, then suspend the truck on a pair of Rolling Lobe Air Bags, then it would float on air.

A leveling valve will control the ride height.

There are universal kits available that could be made to fit our trucks, size it large enough to handle any future torque.

An accumulator in the air bag circuit would make it ride even smoother.

Viair 380-C would easily handle the air supply.

http://www.ridetech.com/store/universal-hd-4-link.html

http://www.jimmeyerracing.com/pu7.html

http://www.universalairsuspension.co...ink-p-115.html

Take a look at a the Air Ride System on a Class-8 tractor to get an idea what a Rolling Lobe Bag is.

Jim

 

Jim- why not triangulate the 4-link?

 

You would most likely have to relocate the gas tank if you built a triangulated 4 link

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Accumulators do not help in air ride systems. That is for hydronic systems

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So just thinking about this... All I would really need to do is eliminate te front coils and rear leafs and replace them with air bags. I know it's easier said then done because I would have to tub the body and relocate exhaust etc. agreed?

 

http://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen-...-my-truck.html. This black truck is pretty much the look I am goin for

 

Sorry just my 2 cent's but that Black truck look's Stupid fuel tank in Bed atleast do a fuel cell ? Too Each there Own thou what ever makes the Owner Happy .

 

I'm still not sure if I want to go that low. That's a completely custom built frame and body drop. And yes the original fuel tank looks kind of hacked in there. I would still like to have a floor in the bed. Lol

 

That is way over simplified. The spring pocket will need to be enlarged in the front. The frame may need to be notched to allow the tie rods to clear at low ride Heights. A link system Will need to be fabbed to replace the leaf Springs and some items may need to be relocated to make room for the lower axle. The frame will need to be notched and the bed floor raised or cut if you want to really get down

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Ok. I've decided that previous truck might be a little exteme. I think this May be more reasonable. Would any of you know where I could get parts to do this? http://ramchargercentral.com/vehicle...0-please-help/

 

go buy a halfton shortie and do it up .

 

If you are thinking about a Hydraulic Accumulator, then you are correct, but I am talking about Air Accumulators.

A Hydraulic Accumulator is typically a closed end cylinder or chamber, somewhere in the center of the bore is a piston, or a diaphragm that either has a preset captured charge or charged using a compression spring or a charge of nitrogen, as the fluid enters under pressure it exceeds the pressure behind the piston and moves it to the closed end and the fluid is accumulated.

Working hydraulic pressures are typically 1000-10,000 PSI and accumulators are selected accordingly.

Since hydraulic oil is non compressible any shock in the system has to be accumulated somewhere or the system will destroy itself quickly, they are also used to keep a constant volume of fluid in a system that rapidly changes like with a cylinder.

Accumulators are also used to start turbine engines on heilos like the CH-53 Chinook by hand pumping the accumulator to start the APU that would in turn start the main.

Interesting factoid:
http://www.eaton.com/ecm/groups/publ...pct_221568.pdf

But not if you were to install an Air Accumulator in the air bag system, its function is to increase the overall volume of the airbag and that will give a softer ride, same reason a 10" air bag will ride softer than a 6" with the same air pressure.

Accumulators are also added the air circuit to tune the frequency of the airbag.

Also Kelderman has accumulators on their 4 link systems.
http://kelderman.com/sites/default/f...kinstall_1.pdf

http://kelderman.com/

The 4 link system would not be that hard to duplicate mounting to our front spring hangers, you would just have to be a competent fabricator and welder.

Here are some air bag and parts.
http://www.airbagit.com/

Dual accumulators for air bag systems.
http://www.airbagit.com/Accumulator-...ank-accu-3.htm

This is one of our town locals that builds some pretty extreme custom vehicles; you can see how much work he puts into his slammed projects.

http://chassisbyaaroniha.com/

Jim

 

Hey jim how is the current setup working in your truck with the leafs taken out and the airbags? Any axle wrap problems?

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